Crash and Burn
by Temari-Desert-Storm
Summary: Neku and Joshua have a broken relationship, unforgiven friends bonded only by trust. Both seek forgiveness from themselves and each other, but can they find a way to work together when their lives depend on it? Crash and burn. You're not alone.
1. Revelations

_It's been a long time since I wrote something for The World Ends With You, but now that Kingdom Hearts 3D is bringing the cast back, I'm inspired. The chapters for this are a little shorter than I'm used to, but that's the point. Expect this story to have a good number of short chapters. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride._

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**Chapter 1 - Revelations**

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Neku felt faint as his consciousness slowly dissolved back into reality, a feeling he had come to know all too well. His face was pressed against something warm that smelled strongly of tar and rubber, burning against his skin like his body had been pressed to a massive stovetop. He could faintly hear the sounds of the Scramble Crossing, the unique beeping that signaled the start of the multidirectional stampede of people, feel the multitude of footsteps pounding on the ground, each one sending vibrations through the street and into his head. It was like a heartbeat, the heart of the city pumping life through the streets.

As he tried to sit up, his head spun and he paused, blinking slowly as he tried to get his bearings. Everything around him was familiar, which was bad. He was lying on his stomach in the middle of the Scramble Crossing, crowds of people around him. He could hear the voices, but his mind was as scrambled as the flow of people. It was just like in the Game, waking up to face another week.

The Game…

All the memories came flooding back into Neku's head: meeting Shiki and teaming up with her, Rhyme being erased to protect Beat, Joshua pushing Neku out of the way of Minamimoto's final attack, Konishi stealing Rhyme's Noise, Kitaniji turning into a snake… and Joshua's final challenge.

"_Now Neku, why don't we play one last Game? The winner gets to be the Composer and do whatever he likes with Shibuya. If you win, you decide. If I win, I decide. …Of course, I've already decided…"_

The Game… He had lost. Joshua had told him to shoot but he couldn't. They had spent a week together. They had been partners. They had fought side by side and had watched each other's backs. And Joshua had lied to him and betrayed him. Joshua was the Composer of Shibuya, and Neku had ensured that no one stood in the way of his plans for its destruction.

"Why…?" He couldn't understand. He trusted Joshua. He may have been an incredible jerk, he may have cheated and lied about why he was playing the Game, but Neku still trusted him. Joshua and Neku had been alike, two aloof young men who wanted nothing to do with the rest of the people in the world. Neku had realied it partway through the week. Despite Joshua's attitude clashing with his own, they worked well together. He still couldn't understand why Joshua would screw with his mind.

"_I assure you I'm not. Life's little crossroads are often as simple as the pull of a trigger."_

He couldn't understand Joshua, even though Joshua was the reason he had changed. Joshua had given him a chance to change his life, despite the fact that the Composer himself had taken it. He had learned to make friends because of Joshua, and Joshua had shown him that the world was exactly as he had seen it before: cruel and unforgiving.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Neku threw back his head and screamed, letting out all his frustrations and anger. Joshua had betrayed him, he had been thrown back into the Scramble Crossing again, and he was utterly alone. His heart pounded and his chest hurt, but nothing compared to how betrayed he felt. He closed his eyes and breathed, trying to calm himself down. There were so many things he would have to do, things to prepare for if he was taking part in another Game… or so he thought.

When Neku opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a crowd of people, all staring at him with confused expressions. They were whispering amongst themselves, forming a wide circle around where he was sitting on the ground.

"What's wrong with that kid?"

"I didn't see him there a minute ago…"

"He just appeared out of thin air?"

"Should we call a hospital?"

"Yeah, a _mental_ hospital…"

It took all of about two second for Neku to realize that his grasp of the situation was wrong. All the people staring at him were alive, and they wouldn't be able to see him if he was still playing the Game. It took even less time than that for him to realize just how much trouble he could get in if someone decided to call the police. He dove at the crowd, which parted and let him pass, taking off through Shibuya's streets. He ran with his head tucked down, letting his feet guide him until he tripped and sprawled across the ground, his face landing with a thud in the dirt.

As Neku dragged himself back to his feet, staggering as he tried to find something steady himself. His hands met cold concrete and he looked around, his heart beating painfully in his chest - not from the running, but from where he ended up. The cavernous maw of the Shibuya River beckoned him inside, nothing blocking the path. It had been blocked off in the UG, preventing players from getting in, but the barrier had been broken, letting Neku and Beat proceed, thinking that Mr. Hanekoma would be waiting for them at the end.

Now, in the RG, nothing stood in his way, no walls to bar his passage, but Neku couldn't get his legs to move forward. He wasn't sure just what was waiting for him at the end of the tunnel, whether he would find some kind of twisted reality or - possibly even worse - Joshua waiting to kill him again. A wave of genuine fear washed over him. Maybe Joshua with a gun wasn't what he was afraid of. Maybe it was Joshua himself.

Knowing he couldn't face Joshua again, knowing that having just been shot twice in a month by a person he had come to trust, Neku turned away from the Shibuya River and made his way back to the Scramble Crossing, his mind wandering as much as his feet.

When Neku's mind cleared again, he found himself standing in Udagawa, the CAT mural staring down at him. It had once symbolized something special to him, the one place where he felt most at home. Something about the graffiti had resonated with him, making him feel peace in his turbulent, hated life. Now it only meant pain and suffering. CAT was Mr. Hanekoma, who - from all appearances - was working with Joshua.

Neku pressed his hands against the wall, feeling the coolness on his skin. He pressed his forehead against the wall, fighting the overwhelming urge to cry. Life wasn't fair. He knew that truth very well, but now everything was conspiring to work against him. He wanted so much to close himself off from the word again, hiding behind his headphones and shutting out all contact. He knew it would hurt a lot less.

Suddenly, a phone beeped, making Neku jump enough that he slammed his head against the wall. Rubbing his head with one hand, he fished around in his pockets for his phone and pulled it out. Someone had messaged him. Dreading who it might be, he opened up the message and let out a sigh of relief, feeling a smile come to his face.

To: Neku, Beat

From: Shiki

Title: What happened?

_Are you alright? Everything went black after what happened and when I woke up both of you were gone. Is everyone safe?_

Neku leaned up against the wall and worked on sending her a reply, saying simply: "I'm fine over here. Woke up in the Scramble with a major crowd, so I'm alive at least. You guys saved my ass back there. Thanks. Is everyone back how they should be?"

Shiki's reply came less than five minutes later. _Beat says everything is AOK on his end and Rhyme is good too. Looks like we won! =) Make sure to keep your promise Neku._

Neku stared at his phone until he finally remembered just what he had promised. They had promised to meet at Hachiko when they got their lives back. That made some of the tension evaporate from his chest. Oshua may have betrayed him, but it didn't mean he didn't have any friends. Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme had shared his betrayal, shared his pain, and even if they hadn't been as devastated by Joshua's actions as he was, they had all fought against him for their lives.

Neku had friends he could rely on.

He texted back: "Let's meet up in one week. I'll see you there."


	2. Worries

**Chapter 2 - Worries**

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Joshua was a restless person sometimes. He acknowledged that he often couldn't sit still when he needed to concentrate on important things. After years and years of trying to force himself to focus on the task at hand, he found that getting some air usually helped calm his restlessness. High places were the best, letting him look out over the city he governed. This day, however, - this warm summer day, near the end of August - Joshua found himself looking at Shibuya in a different way; not across the skyline of the tall office buildings and department stores, but down into the Scramble Crossing, where a crowd of people had gathered around one lone individual. Despite the distance, Joshua could see the unruly head of orangey-red hair clearly.

Neku's cry of frustration echoed into the air and Joshua felt himself instantly recoil from the sound, ripping through him like a burst of static off a disconnected radio station. It tapered off into the empty space, but Joshua could still hear it, his ears ringing despite the distance.

He didn't really know why he had come to watch Neku awaken after the ending to their game. It was weighing down on his mind, but he couldn't seem to come up with answer that sounded right. It was part of the reason he had taken his perch; to figure out exactly why he was so bothered by what had happened.

"So this is where you've been hiding…"

Joshua didn't even need to look up, not even slightly surprised by the appearance of his company. "I'm not hiding from anyone. That would be you," he snapped, not really in the mood to talk.

"Come on now, Josh. No need to be in such a bad mood."

"Why shouldn't I be? The one person I've been relying on has been interfering with my plans. I don't appreciate the actions you took, Sanae."

Hanekoma winced, the reaction Joshua had been expecting. He only referred to Mr. H by his first name when he was particularly annoyed with the man, which didn't happen too often. Joshua wanted to make it perfectly clear just how upset he was. "Josh, listen. I did what I did. It's done. I figured it would be for the best."

"Giving Minamimoto Taboo Noise was 'for the best'? I'm starting to think you've slowly been losing your mind…"

"I didn't want to lose the city, Josh." Hanekoma's voice was low, serious. "I don't like saying this, but you're expendable. This city isn't. At the very least, Minamimoto would keep the city running."

Joshua glanced over his shoulder. "You preach trust above all else, Sanae, but the one you trust the least is the one you should be trusting. You're worse than Neku…"

"The kid trusts you."

"But you don't trust me, and that's what this conversation is about." Of all things, Joshua didn't want to talk about Neku. He could still see the image of Neku in his mind from the day before, clutching the gun tightly in his hands, tears spilling down his cheeks and onto the floor. It was the last thing he wanted on his mind. "You know how much this city means to me. The last thing I wanted to do was destroy it, but I'm not going to let its evils fester and spread."

"And whose fault is that?" Hanekoma mumbled back, staring off into the sky. "I know how much the city means to you, but I also know what you're capable of when someone pushes you too far. I know you. Leaving it to you without a backup plan would have been stupid."

"Stupidity isn't prudent. Now you've left me with a number of problems. I'm going to be taking a lot of complaints from the Higher Plane, I've lost the support of my Producer, and now I don't have a Conductor or any candidates. I can handle the brunt of the work, but I'd much rather not and you've placed me in a situation where I don't have the luxury of choice."

"You haven't lost me, Joshua. I'm going to help you however I can."

Joshua turned on the ledge, swinging one of his legs up, the other still hanging out over the Scramble. "You've severely limited how much you can help me. If the Angels find out I've been getting assistance from my former Producer, they'll come after me and - in the worst-case scenario - shut Shibuya down. Then all your efforts will be for nothing. I can't fathom that you haven't seen the problem with that already."

"I meant, I'll find you a Conductor. Though, I think you already know who the best candidate is…"

Joshua felt his fingernails digging into the palm of his hand, the mere thought getting his nerves. "No. I brought him into the Game to be my proxy, not scout him for a position. He's alive, not a Reaper. I can't do that."

"You can't, or you won't?" When Joshua didn't answer, Hanekoma sighed. "Josh, you know he trusts you. He'd probably accept the offer if you asked him."

"And I won't ask him."

"Because you're stubborn."

"Because I've changed. I may have done something like this before, but… He trusts me. I… I never thought I could trust anyone but you…" Joshua pressed his hand to his forehead. He felt dizzy suddenly, his chest tight. He wondered if it was the air, but then remembered that he technically didn't even need to breathe. His eyes began to hurt, making him question if he could even cry. "I… I don't know anymore, Mr. H. I used to know what was going on, but I don't know myself anymore. I know what trusting people means now, really know, and I know how much a betrayal of that trust hurts. If I had to… If Neku… I can't face him. I betrayed him. He trusted me and I betrayed him." He took a deep, gasping breath, his chest shaking as he tried and failed to calm his nerves. "What kind of person am I?"

Hanekoma shook his head. "Don't worry yourself about it. You can't blame yourself for it, Josh. You're a lot like he was: you just needed someone to show you the way. Neku did that for you. He changed you, so Shibuya changed. You were stuck in your old-fashioned views, which isn't wrong, but now you've learned. Everyone can suffer a little change every once in a while. You were just overdue."

Joshua took a deep breath, feeling his disjointed nerves starting to pull back together. Looking back down at the Scramble, the crowd had dissipated and Neku's fiery hair was nowhere to be seen. Somehow, knowing that made Joshua feel a bit better. He pulled himself to his feet. "Maybe… I haven't decided yet."

"Got any plans for this week, Boss?"

Glancing over his shoulder, he gave Hanekoma a smile. "I _always_ have a plan."


End file.
